College of Saint Benedict Athletics

GRINNELL, Iowa – Beginning a slate of four matches over two days, the College of Saint Benedict volleyball team came out with a split on the day at Grinnell College Friday night, Sept. 4. The Bennies (1-2) opened the day with a five-set loss to Simpson College before coming back to finish the night with a four-set win over Grinnell College.   

Opening the weekend with a competitive first contest, the Bennies were unable to sneak past the Storm in the five-set battle that saw set scores of 28-30, 23-25, 25-17, 25-22, 15-13. Saint Benedict finished the match with 54 kills on a .189 attack percentage, while Simpson (1-1) notched 63 on a .170 clip. The Storm also held the upperhand in digs (93-83), assists (59-52) and aces (11-6), while CSB tallied a 7-5 lead in blocks. 

 

Senior Kali Jones (Annandale, Minn./Annandale) led the team with 17 kills and 23 digs to complete her first double-double performance of the young season. Sophomore Brooke Siegle (Norwood Young America, Minn./Waconia) finished second on the squad with 11 kills, followed by a career-high eight from sophomore Sydney Elliott (Saint Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall).  

 

Junior Izzy Torve (Loretto, Minn./Orono) and sophomore Ginny Schuler (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) orchestrated the attack with 28 and 16 assists, respectively. Senior Libby Burns (Watertown, Minn./Watertown-Mayer) totaled a team-best three aces. 

 

Torve joined Jones with a double-double, as she notched 16 digs. First-year Kaelyn Wittwer (Delano, Minn./Delano) followed with 12. Sophomore Karley Dunham (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) posted a team-high five blocks, while first-year Karlie Wollum (Canby, Minn./Canby) finished with four. 

 

The Bennies took the first three points of the match via a Simpson miscue, an ace from Torve, and a Siegle kill, but the Storm quickly came back to go ahead 10-6.  

 

Saint Ben's stayed behind until a kill from Dunham evened the score at 17. Dunham and senior Brooke Andries (Marshall, Minn./Marshall) teamed up for a block on the ensuing point, making it an 18-16 advantage.  

 

The set remained within two the rest of the way as both teams fended off set point numerous times. After two straight attack errors by Simpson, Schuler set up Siegle for a kill to solidify set one in favor of CSB, 30-28. 

 

Four straight Simpson points put the storm ahead, 10-9, in set two, but the Bennies swung momentum back in their favor with a 4-1 run. Elliott and Wollum paired up for a block, and Elliott stayed hot with a kill off an assist from Torve to slide Saint Ben's in front, 13-11. 

 

Another 4-1 run by CSB looked like it locked in set two, but the Storm came back with four consecutive points to tie the score at 21. The Bennies never looked back, as Wollum and Dunham rejected an attack to lock in set two, 25-23.  

 

After dropping sets three and four with scores of 25-17 and 25-22, respectively, Saint Benedict looked poised to bounce back in the decisive fifth set. Head coach Nicole Hess called a timeout with her team staring down a 12-10 deficit. The break worked in favor of the Bennies, as Torve found Jones for back-to-back kills before dishing one to Wollum to send CSB up 13-12. Saint Ben's was unable to get any closer to the win in the set, falling 15-13. 

 

The Bennies responded in their second match of the day, downing Grinnell (0-2) in four sets with scores of 25-22, 23-25, 25-21, 25-17.  

 

An even game in the box score statistics, Saint Ben's pulled out the edge in kills (50-45) behind a .233 attack percentage, while GC finished the day hitting .174. CSB also snuck out the lead in aces (9-8) and blocks (9-2), while each team finished with 41 assists. The Pioneers notched the advantage in digs, 69-66.  

 

Jones once again led the offense with 14 kills, closely followed by 11 from Dunham, registering double-digit kills for the first time in her career. Andries added in eight. Jones and Burns led the Bennies from the service line with three aces apiece. Schuler and Torve put together the solid attack, finishing with 22 and 15 assists, respectively.  

 

Defensively, Burns smashed her previous career-best with 20 digs. Jones tallied her second double-double of the day with 18 digs as she continues to near the 1000 career digs mark. The senior needs just eight digs to achieve the milestone. Dunham tied her career-high for blocks with seven to lead the net defense.  

 

A 4-1 run pushed the visitors ahead early in the opening set. Schuler connected with Siegle for a kill. The ensuing point featured a Torve ace, who found Siegle for another kill to follow. After a Grinnell sideout, a service error put the Bennies ahead by two, 10-8.  

 

Grinnell kept it close, going ahead 13-11 at the midpoint of the set, until four straight points for Saint Ben's stole the momentum. Two straight blocks by the Bennies were followed by kills from Andries and Dunham to make it 16-14, forcing the home team to call timeout.  

 

After GC tied it up at 16, Jones, Siegle, and Andries posted three straight kills to make it a three-point lead as the Pioneers burned their last timeout. 

 

Saint Ben's stayed in front the rest of the way, as Torve caught Grinnell off guard with a dump set for a kill to lock in set one, 25-22.  

 

After dropping set two, 25-23, Saint Ben's quickly responded in the third set, going ahead 7-4 thanks to five straight points. Torve found Jones and Wollum for back-to-back kills and Burns followed with an ace. After an attack error, Dunham and Jones teamed up for another block to make it a three-point gap.  

 

The Pioneers battled back to go ahead 16-14, but a bad set sparked a Saint Benedict run. Dunham and Wollum once again paired up for a block, and Torve dumped another one over after an attack error. Burns perfectly placed a serve for an ace to make it 19-16.  

 

The visiting team never let up, as consecutive from Andries and Siegle secured set three, 25-21. 

 

A slow start to set four saw the Bennies go down 8-5 early. A GC service error gifted CSB a much-needed sideout, sending Schuler to the service line. The sophomore helped start a 13-1 run, as she found Jones for a kill on the following point. Andried notched one of her own to follow, and Dunham downed a ball sent over prematurely to put the Bennies ahead, 9-8. After an attack error made Grinnell call timeout, Dunham roped another one down to put the visitors up 11-8. Jones polished off the run with an ace, putting Saint Ben's up 18-9. 

 

The Bennies coasted the rest of the set, with a Jones kill securing their first victory of the season behind a score of 25-27. 

 

CSB quickly turns around for two more contests Saturday, Sept. 5 at Central College. Saint Ben's will face Cornell College at 11 a.m. before battling the Dutch at 1 p.m.